Thanks For The Broken Heart
by annoyedandgay
Summary: Fionna likes Marshall. Presumably he returns the affection, but Fionna is not entirely convinced. meanwhile Gumball is trying to sort out his mind, stay sane and run a kingdom with a shattered psyche. Rated M for later chapters. Please review!
1. Fionna and the hella annoying vampire

Marshall was annoyingly floating around my head in a way that made it hard for me to reach out and punch him in the face.

Which is what I really wanted to do at the moment.

Why? Because he was being a total jerk.

He acted so immature sometimes! It was hard to believe he was older than cake, judging by the way he acted.

"It's easy!" Marshall practically whined.

You see, I invited Marshall over so I could hang out more often, I'd the feeling he really wanted to hang out with me but was too proud to ask.

Which I find beyond weird.

He had been hovering around the house for a while so I invited him over with the promise of movies.

Once he finally arrived, he had brought his bass guitar over with the intent of teaching me to play it.

Turns out I had no musical talent outside of singing.

I strummed the guitar trying to get the feel, but heard only jarring metallic sounds. Marshall groaned and grabbed the guitar from me.

He strummed the strings expertly and an edgy, nostalgic tone came out.

The hella annoying vampire smirked and handed it back to me.

I frowned and tried to replicate his hand movements but the resulting melody was nothing like his.

Marshall sighed and swooped up behind me. I flinched and balled my fist.

"What the flip man!" I shouted. "Don't do that! I might punch you next time!"

I said angrily.

"Never turn your back on a warrior, Fionna." I could almost HEAR the smirk in his voice, but I felt slightly out of breath when I heard him say my name.

I felt... Weird.

Marshall floated up again. "Wanna take a break? It's physically tiring watching you suck." Marshall yawned.

I felt my face heat up. Ugh! That hella annoying vampire was being hella annoying.

Unsurprisingly.

Then why did I feel so upset and offended?

"Yeah whatever! You been playing for decades! I only just started this... Guitar playing thing!" I said defensively.

I paused. "Anyway, its probably because I have a sucky teacher!" I smiled.

To my surprise Marshall's face went mauve slightly and he looked away.

"Touchy aren't we?" Marshall said coolly. He landed lightly on the ground and started for the kitchen.

I stared at his back. For a moment.

I carefully put down the guitar and headed to the kitchen, where Marshall was already raiding the fridge.

"Aren't you too old to be acting like a teenager?" I teased.

"Shaddup you!" Marshall said indignantly. He rummaged around in the fridge, a clunk was heard and a grapefruit fell out of the fridge and rolled over to my feet.

I sighed and handed Marshall the grapefruit.

"If your hungry eat this." I said tiredly. I realized how tired I sounded.

Probably just from having to deal with annoying pushy vampires that were so wrapped up in themselves and in their ego that they never said what they needed to say and were too dense to realize that they were loved so instead they shut their selves off from the world and sat in their little emo corner and cried and ranted.

Probably from having the strain of having to be nice to a annoying person for the most annoying reason ever!

At that moment all I wanted to do was slap Marshall. Really hard.

His stupid voice failed to reach me so I just stared angrily at his cheek,

Mentally slapping him repeatedly. He leaned forward suddenly, causing me to widen my eyes and panic slightly.

"Yo Fionna!" He shouted in my face.

"WHAT?!" I shouted back.

"Can't eat, not red you Dingus!" Marshall shouted.

I snapped my arm back, drew my sword and sliced the grapefruit in half with Marshall holding it, so he could see it was red in the inside.

Take that you hella annoying vampire!

"Who's the Dingus now?!" I shouted.

"Its still you!" He shouted.

"Why me?!" I shouted. The more I talked to him the angrier I became.

"Cause you can't play my guitar!" Marshall shouted.

I growled and ran to the living room with Marshall following me closely.

I picked up the heavy guitar and struck a fierce pose.

Marshall grinned.

I strung and strummed the strings wildly, filling the living room with horrible off key notes.

Marshall could barely move due to laughing.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You may laugh now but I am the best pupil you have ever had!" I declared defiantly. Marshall stopped laughing enough to retort with,

"You, Fionna are quite possibly the worst pupil I could ever have!"

My heart skipped a beat.

I pulled myself together and grinned wickedly at Marshall.

"No, because I am the ONLY pupil you've ever had!" I said.

Marshall picked up the guitar and floated over to me.

"Fair enough." He put the guitar in my arms and floated behind me.

He put his hands on my arms and moved them into position.

I felt a tingle running from my arms to my legs. Marshall pressed my hand down on the neck of the guitar.

"This is a fret." Marshall said. He had lost his jerky tone and seemed more serious.

"When you hold down these strings at this fret you change the sound." Marshall said solemnly. With his hand still over mine he strummed the strings.

The music was deeper and lower.

I laughed a little.

Marshall floated in front of me, upside down.

"So, this is the neck." Marshall pointed at the neck.

He reached inside his shirt and pulled out the grapefruit and sunk his fangs in.

I gazed in fascination as he sucked the red out.

"Those are frets." Marshall finished eating the red and pointed at the black bars running across the neck.

"And all the strings have names. Have you noticed they're all different sizes?"

Marshall asked.

Marshall pretty much told me everything about bass guitars.

He helped me understand so by the end of the day I was able to proudly play a few chords.

"Well I'm bored. Can we watch a movie now?" Marshall whined.

I was still plucking the strings so I took a minute before I responded.

"Oh yeah! I'll go get Beemo!" I put the guitar down hurriedly.

"Wait, what?! I don't want to watch a movie on Beemo's tiny face!" All my irritation from earlier came flooding back.

"Well how else are we supposed to watch it?!" I asked, annoyed.

"Let's go to my place!" Marshall announced.

Time seemed to slow a little.

It's nothing special.

It's just a movie, so just nod jubilantly and try to keep from squealing like a little girl.

Which I did, semi successfully.

On the way

"Hey can you slow down?!" The hella annoying vampire was flying off in front of me.

He turned and swooped over to me and tugged on one of my bunny ears.

Marshall turned over midair and paused in front of my face.

His hair, being slightly long, fell in front of his face.

He blew his hair back and blinked seductively.

I flushed and averted my eyes.

"You need a haircut." I mumbled. Marshall laughed.

"Oh Rawly?" Marshall drawled.

He flew behind me and looped his arms through mine and tugged off my hat with his teeth.

"Marshall!" I shrieked.

"Calm down, I just wanted to see your unruly hair cascade down your shoulders, in order to prove my point. If anyone needs their hair cut its definitely you." Marshall said triumphantly. I snorted.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Can I have my hat back?" I asked. Sighing, I tugged all my hair back and held it behind my head. Marshall stuck his tongue out mockingly, and licked my hat.

"Aw gross man! Don't mess up my hat! I had to skin a evil winter mage rabbit to get that hat!" I shouted.

"What's wrong with my spit?" Marshall asked, seemingly annoyed.

Annoyed? Annoyed?! What gives Marshall the right to lick my one of a kind hat?!

Hell, I should be annoyed!

But I wasn't, I actually just felt like laughing, and I sorta wanted to become a bird.

A bluebird, that way I could fly with that hella annoying vampire.

"I wish I could fly." I brushed myself off and started walking again.

"Hey I could totally carry you, Fionna." I shivered nervously at the sultry way he said my name.

"No really its fi-" Marshall scooped me up in his arms and flew up suddenly.

I screamed at the suddenness and mentally scolded myself for screaming like a frightened little school girl at the same time.

I swung my first back ready to punch his lights out but then I remembered that he was holding me in the AIR.

I looked down and the height was dizzying, I felt nauseous.

A fall from that height would probably kill me.

"Put. Me. DOWN." I said murderously.

"C'mon Fionna, I thought you wanted to fly. It's nighttime. We'll be able, to fly really high! Just humor me, okay?" Marshall asked, pleaded.

I saw how close I was to Marshall, and I looked into his eyes and softened a tiny bit.

"Fine, just gimme my hat back you jerk!" I said grumpily.

"Once we land, then I will give you your hat back, Fionna." I suppressed a giggle.

Marshall's hold on my tightened a little.

"Put your arms around my neck." Marshall instructed.

"Why?" I asked nervously.

"Cause I am going to be flying pretty fast, and I don't want to drop you." Marshall explained.

The thought of falling made me cling tightly to Marshall.

"Didn't know you were scared of heights!" Marshall exclaimed.

"I am not! I just don't want to fall!" Was that so hard to understand?

Without warning, the hella annoying vampire flew forward into the sky.

I gasped and clung on for dear life.

We whizzed through the sky, with the light of the moon shining on Marshall and making him look almost angelic.

I found it hard to speak.

I just stared at his face with my hair blowing around my face and the wind whistling in my ears.

It felt too good to be true.

Marshall caught me staring at him and laughed, gently.

Gentle laughter.

It was so surreal, and I prayed that it wasn't a dream.

I looked into Marshall's eyes and melted a tiny bit.

I melted completely.

Marshall looked like he was about to say something but then he looked away.

"Oh, there's the cave." Marshall said with a definite nervous edge.

We descended slowly.

As soon as my feet touched the ground I immediately wanted to fly again, in that hella annoying vampire's arms.

I was still holding onto Marshall, so I let go hesitantly and I kind of missed his cold arms.

Marshall coughed uncomfortably.

"Shall we enter my humble abode or what?" Marshall said.

"Right!" I said. Wait, did we have a moment? Earlier?

I stepped into the cave.

It was pitch black inside.

Marshall flicked a switch.

The inside of the cave lit up slightly, with the source being a big orange lantern hanging from the roof of the cave.

Underneath the lantern was a small, plain looking house.

It completely blew my mind that THE vampire king, and THE most hella annoying person you could ever meet had such a plain house.

My thoughts must have shown on my face.

Marshall flew next to me.

"Boring right? Eh, my house doesn't reflect me in any way, shape or form. So don't go lowering your opinion just cause I don't live in a willow tree, Fionna." I turned and grinned.

"Wasn't thinking anything of the sort! You are such a hella annoying vampire!"

Awww yes! My personal nickname for him revealed!

The look of shock on his face was delicious.

I giggled.

I put a hand over my mouth and felt my face heating up.

Marshall jumped over to me.

"Was that a GIGGLE? Miss-i-so-tough?" Marshall teased.

"It's just a giggle! You just looked so cute!" I said, giggling.

Marshall smiled again.

"Fine. Let's just get inside and watch the movie. Oh your," Marshall said, but paused with his hand in the air.

"N'ver mind! Let's go watch movies!" Marshall zoomed to the front door and opened it.

Let's go Fionna!

I entered the house.

First thing I noticed, it was pretty clean.

Second thing, there appeared to be some sort of shrine in one corner, actually more like a target.

"To the couch!" Marshall exclaimed from behind me.

"The Flip?!" I screamed.

"Is that a movie?" Marshall frowned.

"Don't pop up from behind me you hella annoying-"

"Fionna," Marshall grabbed my shoulders. I froze.

"I don't give a flip. Can we watch the movie now?" You flipping jerk.

I stomped over to the couch and sat down. I handed Marshall the DVD case when he drifted over.

The screen was bigger than Beemo's, so I hoped the movie would seem good.

Marshall tossed blankets at me.

"Your gonna get cold, cause I have no heating system." He said matter-of-factly.

I had in fact been freezing the moment I left the house so I heartily welcomed the blankets and wrapped them around me after taking the snacks out of my backpack.

He read the title of the movie dramatically and put it in. He sat next to me and began playing with my hair. My hair...

"Dude, my hat!" I complained.

Marshall got up suddenly and pulled my hair back, hands touching my face and fishing in his back pocket he put my hat back down on my head.

He kept his hand on my cheek, chilling it slightly.

I flushed and leaned into his hand the tiniest bit.

He pulled his arm back hesitantly, looking shy.

OH MY FLIPPING GLOB HE LIKED ME.

YES.

I smiled and leaned forward slightly and the movie started.

Flip. Marshall got up and turned off the lights. The movie was pretty good. It was a horror movie that Cake picked out specially for the occasion.

Soon there was gory and bloody parts that made me want to hurl.

But when I looked over at Marshall he seemed positively enthralled.

He is a vampire. Marshall looked pretty zoned in though.

I curled up a little.

"Hey, Marshall." I said quietly.

"What? I'm trying to watch the movie!" Marshall complained.

I took the TV remote and paused the movie.

"What is it?" He asked impatiently.

I kissed him full on the lips.

I brought my face back.

There was a long silence.

Was I wrong? Didn't he like me? I thought I saw the signs!

My vision blurred. I was such a colossal idiot. I bit my lip and sat up.

Marshall was staring at me without expression.

"Marshall i-" broke off in mid sentence because the Marshall in question had tackled me so I was lying on my back.

He sat over me.

"Wha-what?" I asked in confusion.

Marshall leaned in and kissed me,

He put his arms around and pulled me in for the kiss.

I brought my arms to his shoulders and pulled him in for a deep kiss.

As we kissed he slowly moved his cold hand up my shirt and under the back of my bra.

I gasped in surprise.

Marshall pulled his mouth of mine and stared into my eyes.

I was delirious, no, drunk on his kisses.

No words needed to be spoken.

He asked a question, I answered by pulling of my shirt and unbuttoning his.

He had removed my bra and was tugging off my skirt.

Marshall kissed me and said softly,

"I love you, Fionna."

I pulled off his pants and whispered,

"I love you too, Marshall."

The next morning.

Fionna got off the couch and picked out underwear and a red and black shirt.

She walked upstairs and wandered in the hall for a minute before locating the bathroom.

She stepped in and saw herself in the mirror.

Flushed face and cheeks,

Bright eyes, Fionna felt radiant.

She had lost her virginity to the man she loved.

She smiled.


	2. His Technicolor Dreams

# My Technicolor Dreams #  
Gumball was weak.  
He always was constantly aware of his dependence on others.  
He was never used.

But now, seeing Fionna and Marshall on screen together revolted and depressed him.  
He sighed and turned off the screen.  
He walked out of the room with his head held high.

Gumball walked up the stairs smiling and nodding at the random guards and civilians milling about the castle.  
The pink prince stepped into his room and locked the door securely.  
He took off his crown and hurled it at the lamp.

He dug around in his drawers and retrieved a black band T-shirt.  
Gumball pressed it to his chest and broke down sobbing and crying.  
I am weak. That's why he left me. I am too needy.  
He can't stand me.  
Gumball's thoughts swirled around in his head in a loop.

Weak.  
Weak.  
Weak.  
He had loved and hated him.  
So pushy, always flirting, always making promises he wouldn't keep.  
The prince was lost.  
Gumball could handle physical pain, he could reason and treat flesh wounds.  
This was too painful.  
He had told Gumball he loved him.

Gumball had believed him, Gumball had loved him back.  
But thinking back, he probably just wanted a physical fling.  
Gumball marched to the bathroom and pulled out his sleeping pills.

Gumball had been dumped a week ago.  
The prince sometimes needed to forget, to deal with the stress,  
And it almost never worked.  
He popped two into his mouth and swallowed it down with a bit of water.

The prince started feeling a little light headed, so he stripped off his clothes and lied down on top of his bed. And cried, And cried.  
Slowly he drifted off.

Sleep provided no comfort.  
Gumball's dreams felt vivid and nauseating.  
In his dream Marshall was dancing on a pole and winking at Gumball.

Gumball felt like he was suffocating.  
Suddenly Ice Queen appeared. Gumball shouted in shock.  
Ice Queen directed her power over to Marshall, completely freezing Marshall and disappeared.  
Gumball started running over to try and help Marshall but his legs felt as heavy as cement.

Fionna came out of the sky. Her hair was flowing around her body.  
She tugged at a lock of hair and slowly pulled a sword out of her scalp leaving a trickle of blood.  
Fionna hit the frozen Marshall with the sword, wielding it like a baseball bat and he shattered.  
Fionna greedily started picking up the pieces.  
Gumball started crying.

He saw a piece by his feet, and picked it up and ran from the feral Fionna.  
There was a tiny Marshall stuck in the ice.  
Gumball knew instinctively that he had to save Marshall from the feral Fionna.

The prince hid behind a tree and pressed the frozen Marshall to his breast.  
Gumball waited quietly.  
He felt the water melting and wetting his shirt and jacket.  
Suddenly his hands became warm and sticky.  
Gumball looked down in alarm and saw that he was holding a bleeding and slowly blackening heart, undeniably Marshall's.

The prince choked back a sob and instead started crying silently.  
His tears dripped down onto the heart, but Gumball still held it tightly.  
He knew Marshall was going to die, but this way he wouldn't be alone.

Just then, the air suddenly felt heavy and oppressive.  
Gumball staggered out of his hiding place and was confronted by the sight of Fionna leaning over Marshall and stabbing his chest repeatedly.

Her arms were covered with blood and she was crying a steady of stream tears.  
Marshall twitched and gasped at each stab wound.  
"Just die! Die!" Fionna sobbed.

Gumball looked down at the heart in his arms.  
It was black and smoking at the edges.  
Fionna caught sight of it and cried out in pain.  
"We need to kill him! Please help me Gumball! Please! He is going to die anyway!" She wailed desperately.

Gumball felt like he was being raped mentally.  
It was too much to process.  
It was too intense.  
It was scary.

"Gumball please! He will die in agony if we don't save him!" Fionna sobbed.  
Gumball whimpered, handed her the heart and ran away.  
Now, instead of slowing down, the horrified prince ran fast and far. He ran towards a bright orange glow in the corner of his vision. Gumball left the nothingness behind him and entered a meadow with white grass.

He looked at his hands. They were covered in Marshall's slowly drying blood.  
It made him shiver with fear.  
Gumball wiped my hands on the grass desperately, staining it dark red.  
The pink prince saw Marshall.  
His heart stopped.

Marshall wasn't looking at him. He was staring at some place faraway.

Gumball felt all these different emotions swell up inside him. Anger, fear, hate, sadness, love.  
Prince Gumball wanted to kill himself.

Gumball tackled Marshall suddenly.  
Marshall had been holding his guitar, and he tried to use it to defend himself but Gumball angrily swatted the guitar out of his hand.  
Gumball wrapped his hands around Marshall's pretty neck and squeezed.  
Marshall gasped for breath and tried to break free but Gumball held on tightly.

Gumball squeezed tighter and Marshall gasped again.  
Suddenly it wasn't Marshall.  
It was a pretty young woman that looked like Marshall.  
Gumball loosened his grip, and the girl drew in a shuddering breath.

"Let, it go." The woman gasped.  
Gumball blinked and tears came to his eyes.  
He got off of the woman and sat down, burying his face in his hands.  
"No, I meant," the woman paused, looking at Gumball sadly.

"Forget him. Move on. He doesn't know what love is." The woman said quietly.  
Gumball's head jerked up, startled and confused.  
The woman opened her mouth to say more but nothing came out.  
The woman shrugged as if to say, 'what can you do?'

The prince tried to speak as well but couldn't.  
He could not speak at all.  
Gumball wanted to leave this wretched nightmare,  
But Gumball didn't think he was going to be waking up anytime soon.  
He calculated in his head how long the pills were supposed to last and when he would wake up, but his mind pulled a blank.

At least he got a break from the horror of earlier.  
But how for long was this nightmare going to continue?  
The woman touched Prince Gumball's cheek.

Her hand was as cold as ice, and Gumball then noticed the fang marks on her neck.  
She was a vampire.  
The longer Gumball looked at her the more similarities between them he noticed.

The prince studied her face intensely, and was startled when he noticed her staring at him with the same scrutiny.  
You. Look. Like. Her. The vampire woman mouthed.  
Her? Who was 'her?'

Gumball gaped.  
The vampire woman leaned in and kissed him then pulled away guiltily.  
The sensation of lips on his brought memories flooding back.  
Gumball teared up, and the words the vampire woman had said before losing her voice came back to him.

Forget him. Move on. He doesn't know what love is.  
Was she his sister?  
No. This was a dream. It wasn't real. The vampire woman was just his mind screwing with him.

But it felt so real...  
Are you real? Gumball mouthed.  
The woman nodded.  
Yes. I'm. The. Parallel. Version. Of. This. World's. Marshall. She mouthed slowly.

Gumball's heartbeat thudded in his ears.  
Parallel version?  
Of Marshall?

The vampire woman bit him.  
Gumball screamed.  
It hurt intensely, it burnt like fire, and it was horrifying to watch.  
She released Gumball.  
Gumball realized that he was shaking with fear.  
The vampire woman stood up and left.

Colors swam, he had a metallic taste in his mouth and was smelling something burning.

He woke up vomiting.  
After peppermint butler had tended to his 'mess' the prince put peppermint butler in charge of the kingdom temporarily and went to the lab.  
And stayed there for a week.


	3. It's Okay to Cry

I knocked on Marshall's front door and waited.

I already had a key, but Marshall insisted that I knock first.

Marshall was slightly paranoid about those things.

We had only been dating for two weeks, and just recently we set some rules for each other that I was trying to follow.

I tugged at my skirt impatiently.

When Marshall didn't open the door I decided to wait for him.

I slid my key into the lock.

I opened the door and stepped in.

The house appeared to be empty.

I switched on the light and took off my shoes.

I felt more comfortable in Marshall's house when Marshall wasn't there.

As usual, it was bone chillingly cold.

I decided to wait for Marshall and set about tidying the living room.

It was pretty clean already, but I kind of wanted something to do while I waited.

Sighing absentmindedly while stretching, I decided to check out the weird target.

I walked over to the target in the corner of the room and stared at it blearily.

It seemed pretty unremarkable.

It looked like cardboard and it had a few darts still stuck on it.

Looking closer, i was surprised to see there was a photograph on it.

It was a photograph of a person.

The photograph was dotted with holes that were heaviest around the facial area.

Was it one of Marshall's enemies?

The person looked oddly familiar. I looked closer and immediately recognized the person.

It was Gumball.

It was a photograph that was stuck closely onto the front.

Although it was faded, I could make out Prince Gumball sitting on a bed.

On a bed?

Marshall had a photograph of Gumball on his bed, on this target?

But I had been in Gumball's room, and it didn't look like that was gumball's room in this photo.

It looked kind of like Marshall's plain bed.

I brought a magnifying glass out of my backpack and peered at the photo even closer.

I broke out in a cold sweat.

Gumball was wearing boxer's and a black T-shirt.

Was Marshall... Dating Prince Gumball?!

But this photo was on a target, a target he threw darts at.

Maybe Gumball had dumped Marshall, maybe Marshall hated him.

Let's just ask Marshall about it.

Communication is key.

Four hours passed with no sign of Marshall anywhere.

I sighed sadly and pulled myself up off the ground.

I opened the front door and left the cave.

Immediately I bumped into Marshall who jumped guiltily.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

Not only because he was out during twilight, but also because his unusually jumpy manner that suggested Marshall had been doing something he knew that he wasn't supposed to.

"Marshall." I said frostily.

"Hey Fionna! What are you doing?" Marshall asked casually.

I folded my arms over my chest and ignored his question.

"Why do you have a photo of a half naked Prince Gumball?"

"What?!" Marshall exclaimed with shock.

I opened the door, walked into the living room and took the photo of the target roughly, tearing it at a corner.

Even as faded and full of tiny holes, it was unmistakably Prince Gumball.

I handed it to Marshall.

He looked sheepishly at me.

I frowned.

Marshall sighed and floated over to the couch.

I walked over and sat next to him.

"Care to explain?" I asked quietly.

"Welll, I sort of had a major crush on Gumball, and we started dating." Marshall said slowly.

The corner of my mouth twitched.

I smelled massive truth stretching.

Marshall noticed that.

He flushed mauve.

"I am not lying!" Marshall said angrily.

"Then why do I get the feeling you're not telling me the truth?" I countered, annoyed.

"Ok I'm lying a little."Marshall sheepishly.

My brow furrowed in anger.

" Marshall this isn't funny!" I said angrily, becoming more annoyed at each passing moment.

Marshall put his head in his hands and sighed sadly.

"I didn't want you to see this Fionna.

it was something I hope nobody would know about.

I'm not sure how to explain it to you, but here goes.

I really liked Prince gumball and I wanted him to love me, which he did, but only for a short time and then he cast me aside."

My eyes widened in shock.

Prince Gumball doing something like that?!

It seemed so unlikely!

Just like the thought of Prince Gumball even being in a relationship was odd!

If he was dating someone, I always thought it would be Dr. prince!

Gumball using people for sex?

"Is this true?" I asked. I was confused and skeptical.

Marshall looked at me and held my gaze for a while.

"Yes Fionna. Sadly, it's true." Marshall seemed so different, so mournful.

I felt so conflicted.

I liked Gumball. Sure he was aloof, but he was so sweet and kind to everyone I couldn't even imagine him as Marshall's cruel ex.

"I don't really want to remember him anymore.

I love you Fionna! no one else." Marshall finished sadly.

He grabbed my arms and looked into my eyes.

" you believe me right?!" Marshall asked desperately.

I looked into his eyes and answered slowly.

" yes." I said.

Marshall smiled, but I cut him off before he could say anything.

"Tell me this, what did you mean to Gumball?" I asked.

Gumball must have had some reason!

He would never just sleep around!

Especially if Gumball had managed to capture Marshall's elusive heart,

He must have broken up with Marshall for Marshall's own good.

Marshall was fine now!

Right?

Marshall grimaced and turned his head.

His arms fell slack.

" I don't want to remember." Marshall said hoarsely.

Chills went up my spine.

What did Gumball say that hurt Marshall so much he didn't want to remember?!

Marshall looked into my eyes, his own so filled with pain I shuddered.

" Muscle spasms. that's what I meant to him. he told me so himself." Marshall's voice broke at the last sentence.

I put a hand over my mouth.

It was confirmed, Gumball used Marshall for sex.

I couldn't believe him.

To think that the ruler of the candy kingdom,

Who could have literally anything he wanted,

Decided to break Marshall's heart.

I felt so much sorrow in that moment.

My opinion on Gumball had dropped dramatically.

The thought of him made me sick.

I pulled Marshall in and hugged him tightly.

"Shh, its okay." I felt his tears dampen my shoulder, my hatred for Gumball deepened.

He made Marshall cry.

Marshall had literally been through hell and he got over it.

He had a mother who didn't care about him and he got over her.

The one person he loved most went insane with power,

And he moved on.

Gumball made the bravest man I knew cry.

I felt so disappointed in Gumball. Ever since I was little I had always looked up to Prince Gumball.

Marshall cleared his throat.

" but when I'm with you," Marshall said hoarsely.

"I forget all about Gumball, I just want to be with you."

I felt myself tearing up a little too.

I hugged him tighter and kissed him.

I'll protect you. I thought fiercely.

Gumball won't ever hurt you again.

The next day

I woke up naked in Marshall's bed.

I was holding Marshall in my arms.

I squeezed Marshall a little tighter.

Marshall looked so peaceful.

I gently stroked his face.

I traced along his jaw, nose, brows, eyes and cheeks.

I held his face in my hands.

And studied it.

Marshall couldn't be woken up, that I knew.

The story about Gumball recirculated in my subconscious.

Oh wait!

It wasn't a story.

Thinking about it made me want to cry.

So that's what I did.

I held onto Marshall and died for ten minutes.

Cake had taught me to never push the hard stuff away.

Always deal with it right away, she said.

If you leave all the hard stuff behind you it will just keep on growing.

So cry it all out as soon as possible.

I slowly let go of Marshall and slid off the bed.

I picked up my panties off the ground and pulled them on quickly.

The blanket caught on my leg and I ended up pulling the blanket down a little,

Which pulled Marshall a little.

Marshall moaned loudly.

I smiled.

I wondered faintly if he was having a good dream.

Suddenly I heard Marshall talking in his sleep.

"Gumbah yoo tiate BITCH!" Marshall spat the last word out savagely.

Gumbah? Wait...

Gumball. Marshall was having a dream about Gumball!

Poor thing.

I walked to the bed and was ready to wake Marshall up when my brain said in a sarcastic and nasal voice, what did he say? Sounds pretty suspicious!

Yoo? You.

Tiate? I don't know.

And bitch.

Soo, Marshall was having a dream where Gumball was acting like a "tiate bitch".

Wait, what?!

Tiate bitch?

Did he mean, tight bitch?!

I decided to sing Marshall awake.

Singing gently in our ears were how our mom used to wake us up when we were kids.

I carefully climbed back on the bed.

I leaned in close to Marshall's ear.

Then my brain came up with something.

I had a idea, I was going to pretend to be prince Gumball and decipher my boyfriend's sleep talk.

Because "tight bitch" is definitely not a term Marshall would use to describe someone he loved.

And he wasn't dreaming about the breakup either.

According to him, the breakup was abrupt and painful.

So why was I trying to catch him in a lie by tricking him in his sleep?

I wanted to believe that Gumball was a good person.

I'd known Gumball for so long he was like a brother to me.

If Marshall was lying I could forgive Marshall and stay close to Gumball,

But...

I lowered my voice an octave.

"Lee, please go away. I am tired of your relentless pursuits." I said, imitating Gumball.

"Cumo! Fina won know! Juzz once. Den I'll leeb yoo lone." Marshall murmured.

It sounded like, Marshall pleading with Gumball for sex.

Was Marshall reliving memories in his dreams?

Is it from when he was still chasing Gumball?

Wait...

Cumo! Fina won know? Juzz once? Den I'll leeb yoo lone?

Come on! Fionna won't know! Just once, then I'll leave you alone.

Was this just a dream?

In his dream was he just bargaining for sex?

While he was dating me?

I had an idea.

"Am I, just muscle spasms to you?" I said in my Gumball voice.

Marshall had said that Gumball had dumped him, saying that Marshall was nothing more that muscle spasms.

Maybe Marshall was lying, maybe I could catch him in a lie?

Marshall flailed around on the bed.

He moved so erratically that I fell on top of him.

Marshall wailed desperately at the top of his lungs,

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" Marshall relaxed under me and woke up blinking.

I folded my arms across my naked chest.

Marshall blinked away tears and seemed to notice me for the first time.

"Fionna." Marshall reached over and hugged me tightly.

"I'll make breakfast babe." I slipped out of his embrace and tugged on my new green sweater.

So it seemed that Marshall had called their relationship meaningless, in saying he thought of Gumball as no more than muscle spasms. My brain tried to reassure me.

It was just a dream Fionna! You don't even know the context!

He could of not heard you and been reacting to something else!

But I knew, in my heart of hearts.

Marshall had reacted to what he thought was prince Gumball.

He probably still loved Gumball immensely,

And missed him.

Was everything that Marshall told me earlier a lie?

I decided to give Marshall a chance to explain himself.

"I had the most weirdest dream." Marshall said shakily.

"What was the meaning of your proclamation 'I didn't mean it?' Marshall?" I asked.

"I, got to write it down." Marshall floated off the bed, stark naked.

I stared sadly at Marshall's back.

Everything was so simple two weeks ago.

Grr.

I strode off to the kitchen and picked up a leather jacket that was hanging on the back of a chair.

I decided to make strawberry pancakes.

Red and fruity, just the way he liked him.

Liked him?

Liked them!

Just the way he liked the pancakes.

I sighed.

Soon the batter was cooking in the pan.

I felt hands cover my face.

"I hate this game!" I whined.

"You only hate it because your bad at it! C'mon Fionna! Guess!" Marshall pleaded.

Marshall...

Was acting like nothing happened at all.

And while I happy that he didn't bring it up, I could feel it hanging between us.

"Marshall..." I put my hands over his and held them.

"Babe..." I removed them and looked at Marshall.

"...it's okay to cry Marshall."

Marshall's eyes welled up in tears.

I could feel myself crying too.

Marshall could seem all jerky or selfish or even cruel,

But there was so much sadness behind those eyes it seemed almost logical for him to act that way.

We sat down at the kitchen table and cried together.

I burnt the pancakes.


End file.
